Pushing On!

Two months ago, I was doing intervals of  1.5 min run & 1 min walk. In 6 weeks, I gradually brought the run interval up to 7 minutes and I was comfortably running about 1K in that time. Since then, each run, I've been walking 5 seconds less in each run/walk cycle bringing the walk interval down to 25 seconds.

Today’s run was a new milestone in my back-to-running journey. I pushed the run interval to ten and a half minutes and was able to run over 1.5K. Ran 4 sets of it with a walk interval of 25 secs in between sets. Felt really good!

My aim, ofcourse, is to transition to running longer distances at a stretch and bring that walk interval down to nothing. A few more runs and I should be there. 

Incidentally, I've signed up for a 5K race on Dec 1st. The biggest motivation for this was to earn a race bib to add to my collection. This one will be my sole bib representing 2019. Now I’m really looking forward to that race environment. Its been too long!

Amp Up

The reason I started this blog way back in 2015 was for me to have a record of my entire running journey. Very often I go back to some of the older articles as a reference point to understand what I've done right in the past and to learn from old mistakes. I'm hoping this particular return to running plan will serve as some use in the future (if ever there is another pause in my running adventure).

This past week I took a tiny break from the running. Just to give a bit of a breather for my legs (& right knee - which has been doing rather well I must say!) before amping up again. Everyday though, I spent 20 - 25 minutes stretching and working on mobility and I've generally been pretty active throughout the day, taking plenty of small walking breaks while at my desk and otherwise. 

I found these three videos particularly helpful in developing my stretching & mobility routine and I'm linking them up here..

22 exercises for bad knees

7 Knee strengthening exercises

Yoga Stretches for injured knees

Over the next few weeks, I am going to be increasing my run intervals slowly from 2 minutes to 8 minutes and if all goes well, by the end of October I would have progressed to running a km or more at a stretch. I'm hoping that in November I can start on a 5K training plan which would be the starting point to return to distance running.

#fingerscrossed

Blessings in Disguise

9 weeks of my back to running plan certainly flew by (then again, maybe not)! Last week, I was at the 1 min walk + 1 min run cycle (repeated for 45 minutes) and this week (which is the last week of this phase) I'll be increasing my run interval to 1.5 minutes. So after 9 weeks of more walking than running, the plan now finally flips!

I'm currently covering a distance of about 5.2K - 5.3K in 45 minutes of which approximately 3.3K is the distance run. With next week's bump up, there would be a gradual increment of about 700m in the run distance. The knees have been holding up well with all the running so far and I see no reason why next week should be any different. 

The end aim ofcourse, is to be able to run continuously for longer distances like before. The present stage may seem a long way away but its not so bad. I have realised that this post-injury recovery phase has actually become a blessing in disguise. 

Paying attention to form

These days when I run, I am a lot more aware of my form and definitely more concious of my foot-landing. Generally a mid-foot landing is advised while running to reduce the impact on the joints and avoiding heel-strike also comes highly recommended for the same reasons. While this has been in my head for a couple of years, I find myself paying particular attention to my landing now. These short, slow-paced spurts of running is allowing me to stay focussed on form as opposed to those long runs where I let my attention wander and go into auto-pilot mode.

Discovering the concept of cadence

Cadence (number of steps taken in a minute) is a concept that I was aware of in theory. It was one of those garmin stats that was just there and always overlooked. The standard wisdom is that to run fast while maintainting running economy you need to have a cadence of 180. A cadence range of 170-190 is widely accepted as the "sweet spot". Ultimately your running speed is dependent on your cadence & stride length so it's generally good practice to work on both. Since I've been running 1 minute intervals over the past few weeks, it's been a great opportunity to observe my cadence which up until now, I have never done. I literally count the number of steps in my head while running and I've discovered that my cadence is on average 160 - 170. This is a great jump off point for me to start working on bettering my cadence. Awareness is the first step right?

Building a base

When I first took up running. I did it quite blindly. It was something I enjoyed and I was happy to go with the "flow". I ran 1 5K and then 2 10Ks and my 4th race was a HM (in a span of a year and 3 months). Having never had an athletic background, this rocketing progression did me no favours. I had literally no foundation for speed, power or stamina and I didn't bother trying to build one. Over the course of the many HMs that I ran afterwards, I did build an endurance base. But endurance without stamina is not a great formula. This current phase has been a blessing in disguise because it is will help me build a better base for later progressions. My aim is now to improve my 5K timing (which is the starting point for distance running), do more speed and conditioning training and in general try and develop into a more "powerful", "well-rounded" runner than an "easy / happy go lucky" runner. (Clearly this is how I see myself :) )

So I am enjoying this phase now and I appreciate this time I have to work on these new foundation goals. By the end of October, I'm hoping I will have progressed to running 1K intervals with good form and cadence. And in November I will start work on bettering my base pace. 

Goals are what make training fun ;) I always like to say.

Baby Steps

I've been pretty religiously sticking to my back-to-running-plan so far. Last week I was at 3 minute walk + 1 min run by which at the end of 45 minutes I covered on average 4.5km of which the distance run was approximately 1.6km. Now its time to level up. 

Level up as per my original plan = 3 min walk + 1.5 min run. And I'm not feeling entirely sure of this. I’ve spent a considerable amount of time on my return to running plan and some weeks it gets subjected to a few tweaks based on how I’m doing. In the interest of gradual progress, I’ve altered the plan now, whereby I'm going to stay at the 1 min run interval but reduce the walk interval to 2 minutes. This would give me a few more weeks to get to the phase where I’m running more than I’m walking. 

My concern with the original plan was that over the course, it had me reducing the walk interval while increasing the run interval at the same time. From week to week, it was a big jump in the total distance run during the 45 minutes. Now I feel I should drop the walk interval down to 1 min before starting to increase the run intervals. It may mean taking things even slower but cautious is definitely better than sorry!

Returning to Running

2 weeks since I've "officially" begun running again. Its a slow process and one that I have to be patient with. Two weeks ago, I started with 50 meters of running thrown in at regular intervals during my 45 minute walk. This week and last, I increased that to 100 meters. I take about 30-40 seconds to complete the 100 meters so it's by no means close to what my speed intervals used to look like. 

In 45 minutes, I cover 8 rounds of the walk+run combo which brings my running distance to 800 meters. Pre-injury, I was running about 6.5k in 45 minutes (without much of a break in between) so I am sure you can appreciate when I say that this is truly a test of my patience. :) But if this injury has taught me anything, it is patience. And I have wised up to the fact that there is nothing to be gained by rushing things. (Harking back to rushing my 20-miler training which is what caused me this whole ordeal in the first place) 

So slowly and steadily, I'll take my baby steps up to week 10 and further and hopefully, I'll get back to my pre-injury pace stronger and in better form than before.

7 months & 28 days

7 months and 28 days since my last run.

But today, I'm feeling very upbeat. After almost 8 months, my knee is finally starting to feel normal and for the last couple of weeks I have been going for easy-paced 45 minute walks every other day. This morning, as I was winding up my 45 minute session, I decided to break in to a jog during the last 1 minute. It was a super-short & sweet 150 meters but I can't begin to describe how good it felt! I'm positive that I will be running more by the end of this month. :) (fingers crossed). 

The last I checked, (early May) the cyst was gone but it had left behind some mild sprain to the ligament and tissues in its wake. All my research indicated that a grade I injury to the ACL (which does not involve a tear), like in my case, is only a minor stretching of the ligament and would typically get back to normal with adequate rest and wouldn't require surgery. But more information with regards to healing time & exercises or treatments to aid in healing was almost impossible to find. I'm guessing thats how "minor" an injury this is considered to be. 

But I persisted, and came across a couple of videos and articles for returning to running of which, I found one video to be the most helpful and I'm linking it up here. The video talks about rehab exercises for a torn acl but works just as well for a less severe sprain like mine. This particular article too I found useful because it explained specifically about sprains as opposed to tears which is what majority of acl injury related articles is all about.

The return to running plan, in brief, talks about walking for 45 minutes at a stretch at a reasonable pace. If you can do this without feeling a strain, you can then slowly progress to running by incorporating small stretches of it at a time. This was my 10 week plan:

Week 1: 45 min walk at easy, comfortable pace x 3 

Week 2: 45 min walk at medium / brisk pace x 3

Week 3: 450m walk + 50 m run x 8 x 3

Week 4: 400m walk + 100 m run x 8 x 3

Week 5: 350m walk + 150 m run x 8 x 3

Week 6: 2 min walk + 1 min run x for 45 min x 3

Week 7: 1.5 min walk + 1.5 min run x for 45 min x 3

Week 8: 1 min walk + 2 min run x for 45 min x 3

Week 9: 1 min walk + 3 min run for 45 min x 3

Week 10: 1 min walk + 4 min run for 45 min x 3

Week 1 I was walking at a comfortable pace which for me was a speed of 4.7 - 4.8 kmph which meant I was doing about 3.5 - 3.6 km in the 45 minutes. 

Week 2 I upped the speed to about 5.1 - 5.3 kmph which meant I was doing about 4 km in the 45 minutes. 

From Thursday, I will be beginning Week 3 and I've got my hopes up high for it. And once I'm in the thick of the program, I will know how soon I can transition to non-stop running or if I need to extend the 10 week plan.

Well, here goes...

5 months and 6 days.

5 months and 6 days since my last run.

This has been my longest time off from running since I started in 2014 and the ultimate test of my patience. I've had other injuries before this but the longest I've taken to heal was just 5 weeks. (5 weeks! Thats nothing compared to this session!) But I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and know that I will be back on the road running again soon! Phew! 

Two weeks ago I took a second MRI to check the status of the injury and to my total relief the cyst is completely gone just leaving behind some minor "Grade I" strain to the ligament & tissues. I can finally resume some of my workouts and hopefully get back  to running at the soonest.

I've kept the Month of May for some rehab strength workouts, running drills and form training and some stationary cycling workouts. To be honest, I've become very wary of my right knee and possibly overly conscious of every move I make. So I need this "honeymoon" month of May to familiarize my legs with the running movement and all the other movements that I used to take for granted before (like just squatting down on the floor or sitting cross-legged or even lunges)

I'm feeling upbeat just at the thought of being able to get back to an active lifestyle. So grateful!

Will update the blog as I progress.

When you have an Owie.. :)

It's been a little more than a week since the discovery of the cyst in my knee and just about a week since I started cycling. The doctor I consulted had recommended that I start cycling, continue light-paced walking and commence strengthening exercises for my quads and hams for speedy healing of the cyst along with tips on how not to aggravate it further.

The cycling has been great. Since, at best, I'm an absolute beginner at cycling, we decided to set up an indoor training system where I could reap the benefits of cycling without the fear of bad roads, crazy traffic and hyper stray dogs having a go at my ankles. I started with 10 minutes and now I have slowly worked my way up to 15 minutes everyday. I have new found respect for those people who sweat their asses off (literally) in those fancy spin classes.

And it seems to have helped! It does feel like the discomfort in the knee is slowly easing off. It will probably take another 2-3 weeks of this for my knee to start feeling normal again and a couple of more weeks after that before I can even think of getting back to running. I'm looking at mid-Feb at the earliest if all goes well. 

As a note-to-self and for any others who maybe having a tough time with dealing with injuries, here are some thoughts...

Injuries are an inevitable side-effect of an active lifestyle. Everyone deals with it at some point - even elite athletes. So you don't have to feel bad about having gotten injured. It happens. It is also not a comment on your abilities. Even the most skilled sportspeople get injured. Manage the injury, heal, learn from the experience and get back stronger.

Patience. You gotta have patience. Healing takes time. And it takes longer as you grow older. It is very tempting to get back into training the second you're feeling okay-ish. Over the past 6 weeks, I've had several moments when I've thought, "Hey its not aching like yesterday, so lets try running again" and I'm super glad that I didn't act on that impulse for most-definitely, I would have worsened the situation and probably would have set back the healing process by a few extra weeks. 

Don't slack off. Just because you're healing does not mean that you have to veg-out and let your fitness go. Keep active. Most likely, the injury is isolated so there will be other exercises or activities that you can do without worsening the hurt. In my case, it is walking, cycling, swimming, strength-training... (basically anything that does not involve bending the knees beyond 90 degrees, locking them out, pivoting movements or high-impact movements like plyometrics or running) That way, when you get back off your injury, you're not starting off again at 0 fitness level. 

Find another love.  True, the injury might be keeping you from doing that one thing that you love but you could look at this as an opportunity to discover & pursue something else that you enjoy equally. Or you could take this time to work on something important that you may have neglected or overlooked in the past. For me, it is upper body strength. So weak, and an area that I've actively kept away from! Now would be a perfectly good time for me to work on this. Finding this other thing will help keep you going and bridge that gap between injured & recovered.

Be mindful of what you eat. Weight gain is all too common when you're injured. Mostly because you're not moving as much as before and you're probably eating the same amount as you would  have when you were in training. Learn to cut back on the calories and eat only as much as your body's activity levels demand.

And lastly....

It's not the end of the world! Though it might seem like it. If you're anything like me, you may tend to get depressed because you're not able to continue doing this thing that brings you so much joy and satisfaction. I have to keeping reminding myself that "Its Okay". I will eventually get to run again and a few weeks of not running really doesn't matter in the larger scheme of things.

Heal, Learn. Get back Stronger.

Of Knee Cysts and other sad stories...

In a parallel world I might have been writing about how I ran my longest and my first 20 miler but sadly in this world, I just had to pipe down and sit out the Chennai Marathon because of my sad, injured knees. :(

Yes there will be more such events and yes, I could be running them stronger and faster... yet, there is a mopey voice in my head that says "but you weren't running today". (Trying very hard to ignore that voice)

I gave my running 5 weeks of a time-out to see if the discomfort in my knees would ease out. But it just seemed to linger on. Of course, in that time I did read up a lot and all the running related knee injuries that I came across just didn't seem to apply to the discomfort that I was feeling in my knees. And I say discomfort and not pain because there was no major pain at all. Just that in certain positions (like a wide-legged stance or a lunge) I could feel something moving inside (like as though something was readjusting itself) and felt a sense of instability in the joint. From time to time, I would even feel a dull ache on the inside and back of the knee (quite randomly) Regular movement & functioning seemed unaffected. I could walk, climb stairs, squat, sit cross legged and even do yoga with no pain. I even tried my magic Muruvenna (an Avurvedic oil from Kerala that has literally worked magic before on previous injuries) but of no great consequence. And finally on the last day of 2018, I decided to take an MRI scan just to figure out what was going on. (Oh! Happy New Year btw).

Of all the random injuries, it turned out to be a synovial cyst (a smallish one) on the back of the knee  towards the left which had caused a grade 1 strain on my posterior cruciate ligament. Consultation with the doc revealed that this was minor and that it would go away on its own provided I didn't aggravate it any further (turns out that sitting cross legged, squatting and any position where the knees were bent at less than a 90 degree angle would put unnecessary stress on it and prevent it from healing). He did confirm that it was usually overuse / over strain that causes these sort of injuries from happening. I've also been recommended cycling and strengthening for my quads and hams. 

So thats where I am at now. This will probably take another 3-4 weeks to set right. Meanwhile, I'm still working out. We've set up an indoor cycle trainer in our gym room and I have been doing about 10-12 minutes of stationary cycling every day over the past few days. Making a conscious effort to avoid sitting cross legged or bending my knees too much. Overall staying pretty positive and hoping that I'll come out the other end a stronger & better runner. (Definitely wiser runner ;))